PeopleSoft connects customers, employees and suppliers with launch of PeopleSoft 8 CRM

PeopleSoft has launched PeopleSoft 8 CRM, a comprehensive suite of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications for eBusiness. Unveiled before an audience of 15,000 at PeopleSoft`s annual User Conference, PeopleSoft 8 CRM will be the industry`s first end-to-end eBusiness platform to combine a pure internet architecture with CRM analytics for a complete CRM solution.

According to PeopleSoft South Africa MD, Jan Coetzee, PeopleSoft 8 CRM includes seamless CRM integration across the enterprise, a new pure internet architecture which will include a Customer Portal, a complete Customer Interaction Centre, mobile applications, integrated CRM Analytics and CRM integration to third-party vendors built on PeopleSoft`s Open Integration Framework. New products and enhancements are planned for phased delivery beginning December 2000.

He says that by integrating PeopleSoft`s best-of-class CRM and Supply Chain applications, PeopleSoft 8 CRM has been designed to effectively deliver the first company-wide eBusiness solution built on a single architecture. "This will leapfrog offerings from other CRM vendors who typically provide only niche CRM solutions, and patch integrations from multiple vendors in an attempt to support the same business needs," he adds.

"With PeopleSoft 8 CRM, PeopleSoft can now begin to deliver on the promise of a CRM solution that supports open integration across the entire enterprise," says Joshua Greenbaum, Principal at Enterprise Applications Consulting. "The flexibility and best practices offered by PeopleSoft 8 CRM keeps customers from having to change their business processes to accommodate their enterprise software."

PeopleSoft 8 CRM functionality that is expected to begin delivery near the end of 2000:

• PeopleSoft Customer Portal

  
  

  A personalised interface that will seamlessly integrate CRM, Supply Chain and Financials applications, giving customers a single view of sales, support and billing transactions.

• PeopleSoft CRM Analytics

  
  

  A CRM solution that will support fast and effective decision-making by providing organizations with data on customer profitability, customer behavior and business operations. The solution products will allow decision-makers to quickly assess opportunities, trade-offs and risk areas based on a complete picture of their business.

• PeopleSoft eSales for WAP

  
  

  This application will allow mobile sales professionals to use their digital cell phones to perform fundamental sales automation tasks including calendar, activity, and contact management. Because this will update the common CRM database in real-time, important data such as pipeline and order updates will be immediately visible to other users of the PeopleSoft CRM suite.

• Native Integration to PeopleSoft 8

  
  

  PeopleSoft 8 CRM will be tightly integrated with other PeopleSoft 8 applications like Supply Chain Management, Financials and HRMS enabling business processes such as Quote to Order Status, Customer Updates and Product Availability. Seamless integration between PeopleSoft 8 CRM and other PeopleSoft 8 applications is delivered through a robust, scalable integration approach with absolutely no reliance on third-party middleware.

• CRM Internet Architecture

  
  

  This platform will offer application developers and customers a pure internet architecture for CRM application development. Using the PeopleSoft 8 CRM internet architecture, developers can quickly build, deploy and support internet applications with the look and feel of easy-to-use web sites.

Products currently planned for availability in Q1 2001 include:

• Customer Interaction Centre

  
  

  The Customer Interaction Centre is expected to improve the effectiveness of the call center by allowing organisations to manage customer interactions across the functions of telemarketing, telesales, support and service. New functions will include branch-script based telemarketing, and order configuration to assist agents with accurate quoting, order acceptance and automated workflow to accelerate order processing. In addition, users will be able to define and track attributes, and capture all interaction history by customer.

• PeopleSoft Open Integration Framework

  
  

  Planned as an open standards-based program that will support the transfer of information between applications. Based on open standards such as XML and Java, the Open Integration Framework is being designed to deliver a robust, scalable and secure platform to link data and business processes across the extended enterprise. Included will be pre-built interconnections between PeopleSoft CRM applications and other PeopleSoft 8 applications, such as Supply Chain Management. Based on current plans, the framework will also provide the basis for integrating PeopleSoft CRM applications with other vendors` enterprise applications, and is planned to include connectors to selected third-party application providers in the first half of next year.

Currently scheduled to ship early next year:

• PeopleSoft 8 CRM Enterprise

  
  

  This will be the industry`s first complete CRM solution accessible from any browser, anywhere, anytime. With no code required on the client, only a web browser will be necessary to access Peoplesoft eBusiness applications from a variety of platforms, wireless devices and internet appliances. This will reduce deployment, maintenance, and user training costs, while providing the flexibility to evolve with the dynamic needs of businesses.

"PeopleSoft will be first to deliver an end-to-end CRM solution for eBusiness," says Craig Conway, PeopleSoft president and CEO. "PeopleSoft 8 CRM is the first eBusiness platform to fully integrate front- and back-office departments and internal processes with customers, employees and suppliers."